Big fun

The big guy is now officially two and he survived a weekend full of partying. We started Thursday with cupcakes at school and the arrival of BeeBe and PopPop. On Friday we welcomed Aunt Elizabeth, YaYa and cousins Evan and Kate. WOW, did that get the party going! We celebrated his actual birthday with pizza and cake out with the gang. Uncle Shay joined us that evening around bath time.

Saturday morning we joined the H.O.G.s at Cracker Barrel for yummy French toast, biscuits, eggs and bacon. Later that day brought B followed by the west TN crowd - Mimi, PawPaw, Uncle Kiley and Aunt Megan.

After an afternoon full of play and fun (including the family photo op) we headed to the real party. We headed over to The Little Gym where we joined a bunch of our buddies. It was a great party for Miles and for mommy too. They did everything! They even brought all all of Miles' favorite activities - including the air mat and the parachute.

After a whole lot of shaking, we adjourned for nuggets and cake. We stood back and sang while the candles flickered in front of him. He waited until the song was over then r-e-a-c-h-e-d those little fingers toward the flame. About 12 moms dove at him shrieking "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Crisis was averted, but he wasn't in the mood for cake anymore. Not that he needed it, he was revved up enough!


Finally we made it home to open presents. Miles had some willing helpers in his cousins Kate and Evan. they were just as excited about all his gifts! He got lots of cool trucks and books, a basketball goal and a sandbox, but so far the most played toy has been the assortment of Thomas the Train gear, specifically Lady . Even Uncle Kiley couldn't resist setting up some cool tracks and trying to wreck the trains.


All in all a hugely fun weekend for us. Thanks you so much to all our guests who traveled far to join us, and to those who survived the chaos of The Little Gym. The ear-to-ear grins were worth every yawn the next day!

GIVE HIM TWO!!!!!

The big boy is two today!! We've been working on two fingers but it's hard to hold the two on one hand up. So 1+1=2!

This morning he got a little present from mommy and daddy - Engine Emily! He's been asking for her all week but has been pretty patient.

We have family rolling in from all across the state yesterday, today and tomorrow. The big shindig with his little buddies is Saturday night. There will definitely be more to come!!

Miles' Very Important Phrases

Daddy's been teaching Miles some vital phrases... check it out..

Our family is growing even more!

Yes, you read that right. We're adding still another family member. (And no, we didn't learn that we're having twins!!)

Uncle Kiley proposed to his girlfriend, Megan! So sometime in the not so distant future, Miles will have an Aunt Megan and Wayne and I will have a new sister!



This is his version of what his plan was. I don't know the exact details yet, but I do know she said yes! He took her downtown for dinner, saying he had a 2-for-1 coupon. This would not be surprise, as Uncle Kiley is one of the most, um, fiscally conservative guys I know. But it definitely didn't foretell a romantic dinner out! Anyway, they first stopped along the riverfront where he planned on using the "car trouble" line to stop and get out. So it was sunset on the Mighty Mississipp', they are "stranded", and he drops to a knee with a ring. How romantic! He said there were a few toots from passing motorists too. They followed this with a nice dinner - without a coupon.

So congrats and best wishes! We're so happy for you guys!

Goofballs

The fun has begun. Miles loved goofing off with the PhotoBooth feature on the new Mac. Pretty silly stuff. I'm still working up the learning curve. It's hard when I've been an ingrained Windows user for over a decade, I had all the shortcuts memorized!! Now I'm trying to figure out if I've lost all the detailed categorization I've done on all 8K of my photos (most of those since Miles joined us). Got the calendar and address book in sync; got the music and playlists over, but lost all the ratings and playcounts; now gotta figure out iPhoto and how to convert Quicken. Sheesh! But we'll get there...

PS.

I totally forgot to add these cute things Miles is doing now. He has some boots - I think given by his buddy Davey - that he absolutely loves to wear. I'll get a photo uploaded as soon as everything else is set up. But he can pull them on by himself and he just clomps around the house. They are rainboots, green jungle scene with salamanders all over them. Too funny.

And the other cute thing he's started doing is saying "be right back" when he's going to do something. He'll say "Miles get tractor. Be wight back." and look at us very seriously like he's making sure we heard him. Hmmm, wonder where he picked that up??

New adventures in hi-fi

This has been a crazy week! I guess I can blame it on nesting, but we (I) decided to rearrange our house. The way it was - picture a square divided into 4 quadrants - we had the living room and office in front and the dining room and kitchen in back. Since we're not throwing any fancy dinner parties soon, we decided to swap the dining room and office. We've moved almost everything, just the table and sofa to swap now. So the dining furniture will take up the smallest room (and we'll also cram the piano in there) and the large room that connects to the patio will be office/living/playroom. It will basically be wide open space for Miles to roam. When everything is finished (HA!) I'll post a picture of the new play space. Oh, yeah, Wayne also decided to dismantle and stack the drums. So now we have an artful display of percussion towering in the playroom. We left Miles' favorite - the Hi-Hat - standing so he can sorta bang that and the low stack of drums.

This weekend Miles had two 2 year old birthday parties, but we only went to one, Millie's. Braden had a fever Friday, so we figured we'd let him recover. Although Miles was so worn out from Millie's, I don't know if he'd have made it very long. She had a bounce house and cute froggy cupcakes to go with her froggy theme. Miles had a blast, and now the countdown is on for his own 2nd birthday!

The last bit of excitement is that we've moved to the dark side of computing. Actually it's the the sleek, brushed aluminum side and so far I'm doing fine! We got an iMac! We'd ordered one over the tax free weekend and lo and behold 5 days later Steve Jobs presents a brand-spankin' new model. I called them and they happily shipped me the newer, faster, sleeker, shinier AND cheaper model, which arrived today. So I'm in the midst of transfering my life over to iLife (hah hah), hopefully without a hitch. Thank goodness for external hard drives! Anyway, it will take up residence in the new playroom, and it's so nice, there is literally a screen, keyboard and a cord, none of all that other junk that ends up taking over the desk. Anyway, off to move my music.... I'll let you know how it goes!!

The Three Musketeers

Thanks so much to everyone for your well-wishes. We've had several wishes for a girl from the peanut gallery, so stay tuned for that news, possibly next week. I'm starting to feel much better as the 2nd trimester approaches. I did go get a few cute maternity things this week, so I'm enjoying the new wardrobe options!

Got back from a late "weekend" visit to YaYa & B's yesterday. Miles didn't have school so we thought it would be nice to have extra help to let Miles play with them and with his cousins. He had a HUGE time playing with all of them. The day we left we told him when he woke that we were going and he pestered me all morning long "Go YaYa B's? Go YaYa B's?" until we finally skipped lunch and left early.

He always has fun with the cousins, but this time when he saw Evan he took off shrieking "EVANEVANEVANEVAN" spinning, running and laughing. The kid was excited! He knows that all the trucks and trains at YaYa's were Evan's and couldn't wait to see them.
They still played more side-by-side, with Miles assembling Thomas tracks next to Evan's big train track. Miles got to sit inside Evan's track and watch it go around, which was huge. Then he accidentally sat on it and derailed it, which I think upset him more than Evan!

It was blazing hot there, so sprinkler time was on the agenda. Miles wore Kate's pink Crocs and B "suffered" through the 3 different sprinklers, the hose and finally a bucket full of water. All were soaked and ready for a cool treat when the time came.




Now I hear him waking from his first nap in the big boy bed. I figured we'd start with naps and work up to nighttime over the next few months. He was down 2.5 hours, so a good start!

In Training

Miles is working on a new life-skill....

BEING A GREAT BIG BROTHER!!

He'll become a big brother sometime around February 24, 2008 if things go as expected. We're very excited, well at least Wayne & I are. We've told Miles he'll be a big brother, but I don't know that he gets it yet. We do know that he likes babies, and he's had lots of fun with the younger girls in his class this summer. We'll just have to see how he does when one is in the room next door!! (a baby, I mean. We don't know yet what the sex is, but will find out in the next couple of months)

I've been feeling fine. Sleepy of course, more than last time, but I guess that goes with the territory of chasing a toddler. I've been more nauseated this time but have been able to eat enough. Crackers and soup help! Already starting to retire some clothes that don't fit anymore... maybe by this time next year I'll be back in them? HA!! Our next appointment is on the 14th, so we'll have more news then. Keep us in your prayers in the meantime.

Home ownership = Excitement!

Ah, the gloriously fun things you get to spend money on as a homeowner - like asphalt resurfacing!!! We finally got our driveway resurfaced this week. It's been needed for a while, and became more urgent after Miles required stitches when he fell on it last winter. So in one afternoon we got a nice, smooth, black surface AND we got rid of the bonus sandbox that came with the house. It was a built in eyesore/litter box from day one. Now we can landscape a bit at the end of the drive and have a lovely view! And there is more parking, but more important, more room for Miles to ride his trike!

Speaking of cutie-pie, we just got home from his last day in the 1-year-old room at school. After a little break he'll start next week in a new room with new teachers! He knows most of his classmates already, so hopefully that will ease the transition.

Today when I picked him up we had a conversation that went a little like this:
ME: Can we stop at the grocery store, Miles?
Miles: House!
ME: But we need milk, crackers, apples....
Miles: No go-cee store. House.
ME: Really quick!!
Miles: No! House! Play mini-loader!

AHA!! He wanted to get home to play with his new toy!! Yaya was here for a couple of nights and they made a trip to Toys R Us. Miles picked out a Roberto & his loader, I believe prompted by all the equipment on the driveway yesterday!!

The crush

I think I've said this before, but I get writers block when I wait too long to post. There's pressure to write pages and pages of what's been happening, when in reality, not much is going on. I guess I should be thankful for that... relative calm. We've just been hanging out, doing the usual: playing, "driving" Miles in the Big Red Car, working out at the Gym, eating at Qdoba or IHOP or Calypso Cafe. In fact that is Miles showing off his spoon prowess at Calypso on Sunday after a trip to the mall. Wayne and Miles needed new shoes (mommy does too, but I'd rather get these) so we headed to Over-Consumption Mecca. Miles wasn't so hip on leaving all his toys to go shop, so we enticed him with a promise of seeing TRACTORS!! That meant a side trip into Sears. He got to test drive 2 models and loved it.

Since he was so great at the mall, we hit Calypso for dinner. Miles loves black beans and sweet potatoes, and their Boija muffins are pretty great too. But that evening the thing he liked the most was our waitress! He was too funny, making shy faces at her and grinning from across the restaurant. He wouldn't stop watching her! When it was time to go, she was seated at the counter near the door. He literally stopped in his tracks and wouldn't walk by her, just hung onto my leg and stared. Here he is checking her out while we ate:

Evan's big day

Sorry for the delay in posting from the weekend. We had a big weekend. Evan turned 5 and had a big bash we had to attend! Miles partied all night long! Kate wore lipstick and walked around in my heels all weekend! Oh yeah... and the new Harry Potter book came out!!!!!!

I'll start with Harry: no we didn't go get it at midnight, yes I have already finished it and yes it was fantastic, although the epilogue was a bit light following such an epic story. My boss <swak> had given me the day off Thursday, so I caught the matinee of HP5 movie, then on the drive to Nashville I skimmed book 6 to be ready for the excitement of book 7. I have shelved them all now, but really look forward to reading them to/with Miles here in a few years.

Back to reality... Evan turned FIVE!! He's such a big kid now. He had a fun party at Pump It Up and got a bike, baseball bat and glove, and some other cool games and toys. Miles had never been to a Pump It Up place before, so we warmed up in the big bouncy room before tackling the obstacle courses and 20' slides. But he did it all, and laughed the whole time. About halfway through they had us change rooms to play on some new games and he thought it was time to go home. I thought he was going to start crying until he realized no, there will be more fun! After all the playtime Miles had cake and ice cream but definitely preferred the ice cream. That seems to be the theme for this summer!

Kate's a funny girl too. She was obsessed with getting me out of my shoes so she could wear them around - even the flip flops! And she had some Hello Kitty lip gloss she liked to smear all over her face. We tried to convince her that she is so beautiful she doesn't need makeup but she replied matter-of-factly, "No, I need my lipstick." Ah, Uncle Shay and Aunt Elizabeth have their hands full!!

Brown Cow Rules!

Poor little booger bear! He had a couple of miserable days last week, including one 3 hour sit at the pediatrician's office. He came home from school Tuesday feeling puny and started running a fever that evening. Tylenol kept it down through the night, but it kept coming back. The doc did the strep swab and a blood count test (looking for white blood cell levels) but he seemed to be fighting a viral infection. So we sat home Thursday and by the evening he was almost back to normal. Thankfully it was just a 24-ish hour bug! He shared some germs with Wayne and me, now we're suffering through a cough that wakes us up at night. Argh!

But Miles felt great by Friday, so we made our Little Gym class and lunch out with the girls. That evening we hit The Pizza Kitchen, hoping to expand his palate a bit. He's never eaten pizza, but he knows cousins Kate and Evan love it, and one of his favorite songs talks about pizza. But alas, he would have none of it. He would much preferred to play with the Edwards kids sitting around the corner!

Saturday YaYa and B came to visit for the day. We had a yummy and fun lunch at Calypso Cafe and on the way home we passed a humongous cow in our neighbor's driveway. No fear of stray Jerseys, our neighbors won a party from Mayfield Dairy, complete with the big brown cow! So after naps (and some sweet cow dreams for Miles) we strolled down the street for the fun. Lots of neighbors were in attendance and Miles had a blast with the big kids. I love our neighborhood! We're starting to get lots of young families in the area and all the activities are really picking up. (Oops, as I type I realize we missed the potluck in the park tonight. Oh well.) It's hard to beat 3 playgrounds, a walking trail and a YMCA with pool all within an easy stroll! Not to mention multiple playdate and babysitter options. Now if only we had the nice flat back yard that some of the other houses have. Hmmmm......

Happy weekend

Daddy surprised mommy with the best present ever on Saturday morning. He got up with Miles and the two of them went out for pancakes while mommy slept in! How nice to sleep past the 6:30 reveille that we've been getting lately. Even though I didn't make it much past 8:00, it was still a refreshing extra hour. [Thanks to Aunt Elizabeth for suggesting it.]

While they were out, daddy and Miles went by to visit PawPaw Stan, Wayne's dad who passed away almost 20 years ago. He would have turned 63 last week. Miles has been to visit before, but this was his first time to run around on the hillside.

Later that day, Wayne's college friend, Marshall, stopped by on his way to a week-long kayaking school. We had fun catching up and Miles had fun entertaining him with all his trucks and his ABC flashcards. After Miles' bedtime, we (the guys) cooked chicken and veggies on the grill. We made a recipe that our neighbors made for us last month - delicious both times!

After another pancake breakfast - this time including mommy and Marshall - we hit the playground to burn some calories. Even in the mid-morning hours it was HOT so we traded outside for in and hit the mall kids area that afternoon. Fun as usual, and cool for all. Unfortunately, though, we're pinning the blame on the mall for the way Miles feels this evening - he had a slight fever and just wasn't in a happy mood. He did manage to drink his dinner - a milkshake made with some fresh fruit and yogurt. Hopefully and good night's sleep will find him back to his usual self by morning. Maybe later than 6:30 am.... please?

Big boy rules

As promised, here's a peek at the early birthday present from BeeBe & PopPop - Miles' Big Big Boy bedding! We're sad they couldn't stop back through town to see it, but BeeBe injured her shoulder and needed to get back to the orthopedist pronto.

I started to put the new bedding on while he played after school today. It didn't take him long to notice and he got absolutely giddy. He bounded onto the bed and started cozying up on the pillows. He noticed his name on the throw pillow and started saying his ABCs. He grabbed his bears and pretended to sleep. He just grinned and grinned! We've been talking about the big boy bed since it's in his room already. We've done diaper changes and gotten him dressed on it since birth, so he's used to being on it. But now I think he's realizing that it will be HIS bed someday!

Not too soon though. He's still fine sleeping in his crib, so we figure, no need to push it. We've started to discuss the "Big Boy Bed Rules." I think I saw them on a mom chat room somewhere:

Rule #1: Stay in bed.
Rule #2: GO TO SLEEP!

We've started to recite the rules and I've told him when he learns the rules he can sleep in the big boy bed. So we'll see how that goes!

Other than that, we've just been relaxing and having fun. The fourth was fun, spent hanging out with friends. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures, so I'm hoping Raven got some cute ones of the kiddos. We didn't even try to go see fireworks, but there was a big show near enough to get the dogs riled up at 10pm.

his semi-green thumb

We were concerned for the last week that Miles had killed his "may-toe" plants. But despite all appearances to the contrary, we have ripening fruit! It threw daddy for a loop, as he thought we were growing big 'ole maters, when in fact they are cherry tomatoes. He thought we had a while to go. I figured that would be more fun for Miles, we could sit outside and eat them off the vine. You can see that the lack of rain in the area has made the foliage wither and brown, but those tenacious Ts are hanging in there! We're also growing some "Mr. Big" peas. Truly! When I saw the packet, I had to have them. They are growing pretty well, but I've yet to see pods, so who knows if we'll get to eat them this summer.

Miles is playing farmer inside the house as well. He's back as a Barnyard fan, but it's more about parking his various "trak-tors" in the barn. He's added sound effects to the vehicles and enjoys driving them all over his new-found highways - mommy's legs, daddy's arms... you get the idea. It's fun playing with him. He definitely knows what he wants to do and we try so hard to follow his lead and play the right game. But sometimes we get the "No, mommy" and he'll move the left-leg superhighway back toward the bed. Too cute!

We had a fun, yet brief, visit from BeeBe and PopPop on Tuesday night. They'll stop for a longer visit on the way back after the 4th. They brought Miles an early birthday present, to be unveiled upon their return trip. Fun fun!!

They learn fast

So we're out in the pool and it's dinnertime, so we started asking Miles what he wanted to eat. He says no to everything. He's been doing this and we'll get crazy with the cheese-whiz:
Do you want nuggets?
>Noooooo....
Do you want yogurt?
>Noooooo....
Do you want ice cream?
>Noooooo....
Do you want a bicycle?
>Noooooo....
Do you want to go to the beach?
>Noooooo....

He's starting to pay attention, though... listen to his free association!




[P.S. YaYa is grandma, Wayne's mom]

ABC Redux

We're still working on the ABCs. Miles has a few favorite letters and even added a 27th... the letter "YAY!"

The other kids ... (corrected)

I know most writings here are usually reserved for the goings on of Miles, but the other kids have some crazy things happening in their world, so I thought I'd expand the horizon a bit.

First we have Chelsea, our poor little crack baby. We call her the crack baby because she was found in a less than desirable area of town eating hot dogs out of a convenience store dumpster. So we imagined a hard life, living on the streets, doing what it takes for a meal. After we adopted her we discovered her tic - she has these little seizures, gets a blank stare and goes a little sideways whenever she gets worked up over something.

So now she's found something that gets her worked up all day long. Chelsea has a new obsession. She has created an imaginary friend who hides in the monkey grass just beyond her fence. Anytime she's outside now, she races around to the corner and yells at "it". I've tried clearing some brush and poking around in the grass, but I have no idea what she's found. I can only assume something has burrowed and she can smell it. She did go nuts over a small snakeskin in the grass a few weeks ago. Hopefully what she's cornered is not the now-full-grown snake!!

I haven't even mentioned that she cornered and killed what I think was a prairie dog [CORRECTION: it was actually a groundhog] under our front shrubs. That was a lovely experience. I heard her barking so Apollo and I went outside. The two of them cornered it and .... well, that's all I want to expand upon that. The girl does put her skills from living on the street to use!

Apollo is our other big baby. After realizing that a food allergy has probably caused the excessive yeast on his skin and in his ears, we've put him on an extreme allergen-reducing diet. He now eats nothing but pinto beans and sweet potatoes. Thankfully I can just mix up cans of the stuff, no cooking needed, but he does have some quirky preferences. The items must be mushed together then mounded in a broad, flat bowl. We've gone through meals pureed in the processor (by me), spoon fed (by me), and hand fed (by me). Now he's eating it all on his own, but we have to physically separate Chelsea from his food. They both want what the other is eating!

We can already tell a difference in Apollo. He's a little less cranky and enjoys spending more time outside, I guess he's less itchy. Also it has NOT had the expected side effect of extreme gassiness... yet. We'll see how that goes! We will eventually try to switch him to some allergen-friendly dog-food, but for now I'm blending up the slop.

Happy Father's Day!

Ah, summer. Miles is discovering the joys of being a kid in the summertime. He's got the ice cream cone thing down, and now he's into the nightly soaking with dad. Always in the front yard, the method changes from evening to evening. Sometimes it's the hose hooked up to the rain wand or the sprinkler, other times it's splashing in the wading pool. The latest is spraying each other with water-filler spray bottles, although he ends up spraying more in his own mouth than on anyone else. Of course even with all this splashing, he can still be pretty dirty, so then he goes to play with his tub full of toys!

One who could really use a bath is his buddy, bear. More specifically, Brown Bear {as opposed to Black Bear}. Brown Bear hails from Old Navy, and unfortunately is out of production. I don't think Miles would be too traumatized if we lost Brown Bear, but it would be nice to have a clean spare. Brown Bear is an almost constant companion these days, and Brown Bear is in tune with what Miles is doing. Miles will tell us "Bear hung-ee," which really means Miles hungry! He likes Teddy Grahams and feeds them to his bears at snack time. Poor bears, forced into cannibalism!

Anyway, by the time I get this posted it will be Father's Day, so happy happy to all the dadd-ios out there. Wayne's getting some clothes and a new CD. Miles made him some cute stuff at school too, and they took this photo of him for the card. Guess Wayne will have to take him golfing sometime soon!

Home Alone

Ah, an evening home alone. Miles is in bed and sweetie-pie is out of town for the evening on a work trip. It's to Nantucket, don't feel too sorry for him. So what do I do with an evening all to myself? Blog, of course! I am way overdue. Actually, I have a new-to-me series queued up OnDemand and a glass of wine with my name on it. But first some pictures and tales from the weekend....

Friday morning was "The Big Show," AKA the last class of the session at The Little Gym. Since they're not even 2 yet, all that meant was a normal class with a cute medal ceremony at the end. Here is Miles with his buddy Millie comparing awards. The instructor reminded me that for the first several weeks of class, Miles took a while to warm up and wouldn't leave my lap for about 10 minutes. Now I can barely stay by his side! So yes, he greatly improved socially as well as physically in the last 20 weeks. We start the summer session next Friday and several more friends have signed up, so he'll have a big time.

One who will be joining us at TLG is his girlfriend, Karley. He had a dinner date with her on Saturday. They shared the turkey burger {sigh}. Really they were too cute together. They started copying whatever the other was doing, the funniest thing being a bit from The Wiggles. One of them says "Oh no!" with hands to his head. The others reply "Oh what?!?", hands to head. It goes back and forth a few times. Well a couple of 2ish year olds doing that is comedy gold, I'll try to get video of it in the near future.

But the day Saturday was filled with a visit from YaYa & B, always a good time. We had lunch, played, napped, went for ice cream (see above!) and played some more. As usual after a day with grandparents, he was exhausted yet happy and ready for the next visit!

Bedtime Story

Here is Miles "reading" to us from his bedtime book du jour.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Daddy celebrated the big 3-6 yesterday! Miles told him "hab day da-dee" as he left at the crack of dawn to go golfing. Sounds like a fun b'day outing, but was with clients, so technically "work." Ha!

Yesterday was also Miles' first day back to school with his new class. He and Eli welcomed two little girls to their room. I think the girls have just started taking their first steps, so will be a change for Miles from the rambunctious 2 year olds. Ms. Candi said he was a real sweetheart with the babies, even patting their heads when they took their naps.

With the two boys occupied for the day, I set out getting ready for the birthday dinner and cake. Well, actually pie. Wayne has celebrated with Baskin-Robbins Grasshopper and Turtle Pie (yes 2 pies) since forever, but when I asked for them at the new BR, they looked at me as if I were crazy. Thankfully they had one close enough to work. Also had to take the dogs to the vet for a 2 hour annual check-up. Apollo is getting on up there - he'll be considered geriatric at his 7th birthday in December!

Then I went and got myself a new 'do! I mean, you know, I had to suffer at the salon to look good for daddy. It's a lot shorter than it has been in years, but I like it. We'll see how it does the first time I style it, though! [no, Erin, Amy didn't do it. she called in sick so Zelda did it.]

Then daddy got to open presents. I made him a book of our pictures and journal from the Italy trip. I had a lot of fun making it, but Wayne's reaction made it so much better. I think I may have actually seen tears as he looked through it! If you want to check it out, you can flip through the pages here.